The next morning Ginny woke up and lay in bed for a good hour before she got up. She thought about everything that happened since she got on the train to Hogwarts. It was only her third day here and she had been through more emotional and physical trauma then one could take. She was angry at first about Draco telling the trio but she actually felt a bit better now that they knew but she was scared for her family now. Not that anyone actually came forward and accused Warren of anything yet but when it finally did come about she knew she would have to fear for her family's lives and her own. She quickly showered and got dressed and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. She sat down with Harry, Ron and Hermione who all looked at her with sadness in their eyes.
"Guys please don't do this, please act normal, because I'm just going to feel weird if you stare at me and treat me like a fragile child" she said putting some food on her plate.
"Sorry Ginny, I think we are all just still a bit surprised and well, we're worried about you, worried about how this is going to play out" Hermione said taking Ron's hand in her own.
"I know, and I am to, hopefully when we meet Malfoy for lunch we can come up with a plan" she said taking a bite of toast.
"I haven't even seen him this morning yet" Harry said looking around the Great Hall in case he may have missed him.
"Well being late seems to be his routine lately" Ginny said taking a sip of juice.
"Do you think we should send mom and dad a letter Ginny, about what happened?" asked Ron sounding a bit nervous.
"NO! Definitely not, not yet anyway, this is the last thing they need to hear right now" she said pleadingly
He nodded at her and they finished breakfast. They all headed to potions with Slughorn where Draco still never showed up. The first two days he was late for potions and now he doesn't show up at all, he must not be on Slughorn's good side Ginny joked to herself. They made their way to charms with Flitwick next and still Draco didn't show up; Ginny was starting to get a bit worried, although why was she worried about Draco? It's not like she cared about him or anything, she couldn't stomach him.......right? She refused to let her thoughts take into another world and turned to Harry. "Well its lunch time and he's still not anywhere to be found, should we just assume to go to his dorm?"
"Yeah I guess lets head down there and see what's up"
Walking down to the dungeons all Ginny could think about was their Defense against the Dark Arts class that was in a little while. She had a sour stomach just thinking of seeing Warren's face again. She wanted to be as far away as possible from him when she got to class but she knew he would maneuver his way over to her. The good thing though is she knew he wasn't stupid enough to try anything in a room full of students, at least she thought anyway. They finally reached the Head boy dorm door and Harry gave a few knocks. ........No answer. He looked at the rest of them and then gave another knock this time calling out "MALFOY?"
"I'm going to kill him if he set us up as a part of some plan" Ron said angrily
"Ron, please stop it, you're always over thinking everything" Ginny spat
Harry pounded again on the door in another attempt to try and get Malfoy's attention if he was even in his dorm.
Draco eyes eased open, his vision blurry, his body sore and his head pounding. Where was he? He opened his eyes a bit more trying to better adjust his vision when he saw underneath his bed. Was he on the floor? He blinked a few more times before he realized that he was in his dorm room on the hard wood floor between the bed and the couch. He tried to move but his body ached so badly, every joint was screaming in pain. His mind went back to last night when his father pulled one of his mind games on him performed the Cruciatus curse on him. He had a feeling it was coming when he felt a light burning where his Dark Mark was and a slight headache which is usually what happens right before his father invades his mind. This was a bad episode but definitely not the worst. He lost consciousness after a while and was just now coming around. What time was it he thought to himself?
Then he heard three rapid knocks on the door, he lifted his head from the floor and wondered who would be at his door, he thought of his father or Warren for a moment. He sat up as much as his body rejected he fought through the pain. He winced at his throbbing head and his stiff back. Then he heard the knock again followed by his name, wait that's Potter, what is he doing here? Then his mind finally played catch up and he glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was lunch time, "FUCK" he said to himself realizing he missed two classes this morning. He grabbed the couch and pulled himself up and stood on wobbly legs and made his way to the door. He was just about there when Harry pounded even louder this time.
"I guess he's not here" Hermione whispered
Then they heard the lock on the door click open and Draco opened the door.
"Hey, sorry I must have overslept" he said turning around and walking back into the dorm and sitting on the couch.
They all looked at him wide-eyed and walked in closing the door behind them.
"What happened to you?" Ginny asked walking over to him
"What do you mean?"
"You have blood all over your face and shirt" Harry said walking over
"Not to mention you look like the walking dead" Ron added
Draco touched his hand to his nose and saw he was bleeding; he forgot to do a mirror check before answering the door and didn't get a chance to clean himself up from the side effects of the Curse his father used on him. Before he could get up Hermione came walking over with a wet towel. "Here" she said handing it him.
"Thanks" he mumbled
"Lucius did this?" Harry asked
"Yeah but it's nothing I'm not use to, he's learned new tricks you see, now he can Crucio me whenever and wherever I am. Warren must've told him I stood up for Weaslette here and my father is trying to keep me in line I guess, or just torture me until I have enough balls to off myself" he said holding the rag to his nose.
"He can't get away with this, it's inhumane" Ginny whispered
Draco looked at her, he saw the cut on her lip from the fight yesterday and the light bruise that was around her neck. She stared back at him and then he spoke. "This needs to end today"
"But how?" Hermione asked
"The whole thing is more complicated than I thought, after McGonagall said that Warren was highly recommended from the Ministry it must mean Lucius is either using the Imperius curse to get his pawns in place or someone in the Ministry is an undercover Death Eater" Harry explained
"Yeah I was thinking about that to, I also thought about Talca, do you think she's a death eater also?" Draco asked
"I'm not sure, she seems fine to me, normal, but that doesn't really mean anything" said Hermione taking the rag from Draco and re-rinsing it for him.
She walked back over to him and handed him the rag back she stared at him for a moment. "Draco, why do you think Warren made McGonagall keep you in school if he thought you were a threat of blowing his cover?"
"Honestly, if I picked up anything from being my father's son, I think I'm officially out, I gave my father more than enough reason to suspect ill never follow the death eater ways and after Warren relayed the message to him he was certain. Now Warren is one of the top Death Eaters under my father, he wouldn't have Warren here at Hogwarts if he wasn't good at what he did?"Draco said looking around at them
"So what are you saying?" Ron asked waiting in anticipation for the answer
"I think Warren is planning an attack here at Hogwarts, he wants Harry dead and there are plenty of other targets here at the school. If I could find a way to lead Death Eaters into Hogwarts then I'm positive Warren can to, unless he's doing this alone. He's cunning and he's fast and most of all he shows no mercy"
"Would he be that stupid to start an all out fight right here in front of all these people?" Ginny asked
"I don't know" Draco said looking down at the bloody rag in his hands.
"Well we have Defense against the Dark Arts next, and we all need to act as if none of us know, you got that Ron?" Harry said looking at his best mate. He knew Ron's temper was going to be an issue especially when he saw Warren directly.
Ron hesitated for a moment but then nodded.
"Alright, he won't try anything in front of all of us there Ginny" Harry told her wrapping her up in a hug.
She was so nervous, she was paler then ever and her stomach was in knots. Draco came back over from washing up and they all headed to Defense against the Dark Arts. Draco walked with Ginny a bit behind the trio and he chanced a side look at her. She happened to be doing the same thing and they locked eyes and she gave him a small smile. "Uh listen, I'm sorry I slapped you last night, I was just-
"Nah it's ok, I'm use to you acting like a barbarian these days anyway" he joked and she gave a small laugh.
They walked in silence for a few more moments before Ginny spoke again, "Maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey?" she said noticing he was still a bit sore from the curse he endured.
"No" he said rather short which Ginny took as an answer she wouldn't argue against.
They finally arrived at Warren's classroom and went inside. There were only a few students there so far so they all took their seats. Draco and Ginny took a seat in front of Harry and Ron and Hermione sat next to Luna across from them. Ginny gave a nervous sigh and Ron leaned forward and whispered to her, "It's ok Gin, we're right here" and she nodded that she understood.
Professor Warren came out of his office as the rest of the students took their seats and he glanced around the room for a moment with a menacing smile etched upon his face. His eyes lingered on the group of students sitting in the back.
"Ah there are my star pupils" he said strolling over to them.
It was with that one sentence that the five of them knew that he was aware that they all knew about him and what he did and now he was toying with them to see who would break first like he found some sort of amusement in the situation. Draco always knew Warren was a twisted man but was appalled to witness it. He leaned over Ginny and Draco's desk and gave the widest smile he could muster up.
"You two must be very excited for class today" he said with such sarcasm that Draco was sure Ron would be on top of the Professor any second. Warren strode back to the front of the class. "Alright today we will be learning how to block spells, surely you all are familiar with some of these by now, after all, you need to learn to defend yourselves these days, you just never know who you can trust" He said slowly, his eyes resting on Draco who was sneering back at him.
"Alright so everybody up and let's clear these desks out of the way" he said flicking his wand and pushing all the desks aside as the students walked to the center of the room. Harry whispered to Draco as he walked past, "He's testing us" and Draco gave a small nod to show he agreed.
"I don't know about you guys but I'm getting an uneasy feeling right now" Hermione whispered to them.
"Let's split up into pairs, Miss Weasley why don't we practice a duel together?" Warren said with a bright but malicious smile.
Ginny's body completely froze, she was sure she would vomit at any moment, her legs started to tremble and she went to take a step forward when Ron spoke.
"Professor I'd love to have a go if that's alright?" Ron said trying to hide the anger in his voice
Professor Warren gave an evil smirk at this and glared from Ron to Ginny, "Of course Mr. Weasley, I'd be honored" he said with such malice, not taking his eyes off of Ginny the whole time he spoke. "The rest of you pair up and practice the Protego spell" he said a bit more angrily then he should have.
Harry immediately paired with Draco and Hermione with Ginny
"He's pissed, he's up to something" Draco said throwing a spell at Harry who blocked it with no problem.
"Keep alert I wouldn't be surprised if he totally snapped at any minute" Harry said throwing a few spells Draco's way that he easily side stepped or blocked with a spell.
Hermione was keeping a watchful eye on the duel between Ron and Warren, she saw Warren throw a curse at Ron who yelled out the Protego protection spell but Warren's spell flew right through the barrier and flew past Ron's arm just skimming it. She stared wide eyed as she saw Ron fall to his knees and she ran over to him.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT PROFESSOR?" Ron yelled holding his arm and seeing he had a bad burn.
"Oh, looks like you didn't use your protection charm in time" he said like it was no big deal, "Guess you need more practice Mr. Weasley" he said walking back over to his position for another go.
"I watched Ron from over there Professor and he had his barrier up way before you shot a spell at him" Hermione said harshly as Harry, Draco and Ginny rushed over to see if Ron was alright.
"Really Miss Granger? Then how do you suppose my spells got through?" he said chuckling
"I've only seen certain Dark Magic able to penetrate a Protego charm............Professor" she said accusingly with much smugness.
The edges of Warren's smile twitched a bit at this and he started pacing the classroom. The other students felt the tension in the room grow and all huddled in the corner of the room away from the awkwardness of the situation.
"My my Miss Granger, you really are a fuckin know-it-all now aren't you?"
"Don't be stupid Warren, not in front of all these students" Draco said
Warren just laughed at this, he laughed for a good few moments and then a sinister smile stretched across his face. At this point most of the students left the classroom scared by the altercations going down between their Professor and the others.
"Draco, Draco, Draco, you have no idea that you're on the losing side, you're a fool, even if I die the plans Lucius has for you and your new clan of friends here is far much worse. You will beg for death I promise you that" Warren said as he pulled a dagger out from behind his back. He flipped it about like it was a normal thing, like tossing around a handball; he was completely laid back which made Draco feel much more uneasy. Warren then stopped and looked at the group before him, "MORRIS!!!" he yelled over his shoulder and his office door opened and five other death eaters came walking out, everyone's wands were drawn at this point. Ron went to stand up from his kneeling position when Professor Warren spoke, "No please Mr. Weasley don't get up" he drawled as he swiftly threw the dagger right into Ron's leg.
Ron screamed in pain and fell to the floor, and spells flew throughout the room. Harry flipped over a table and dragged Ron behind it as Draco ran to take cover behind a nearby wall. Hermione and Ginny went to make a run for the door when a death eater shot a spell at them. Hermione started dueling with the death eater and Ginny saw Warren smirk at her and she ripped the door open and ran into the hall.
"POTTER, WE NEED TO GET TO GINNY!" Draco yelled in-between spells. He threw a binding charm at one of the Death eaters who fell to the floor squirming and Harry threw a stupify curse at another causing him to fall to a heap on the ground. Hermione was still battling with one, he had her pinned down on the floor and she was kicking and screaming to get away when Ron shot a forceful spell his way knocking him against the wall. The other two death eaters followed Warren into the hall after Ginny.
"Granger, stay here with Weasley" Draco called over his shoulder as he and Harry quickly followed them into the hallway.
Ginny ran as fast as she could, she saw a spell fly just past her head and hit the stone wall in front of her causing a bunch of stone and debris to explode everywhere. She put her arms over her face to protect herself and then turned to see Warren was approaching her fast. She went to run down another nearby hall when he shot another spell, shattering a window above her and a nearby pillar to bust into pieces.
"GINNY!" she heard Harry yell for her. She frantically looked around to find a different way to get away but she was cornered. She pulled out her wand and threw a few spells towards Warren, he just laughed and side stepped each one. Draco and Harry were almost to Ginny but the other two death eaters we're delaying them getting to her. Warren quickly disarmed Ginny and grabbed her by her hair and threw her against the wall.
"I'm starting to think if your more trouble than your worth you filthy blood traitor" he backhanded her and Ginny's lost her balance from the force of the smack.
She was breathing so rapidly at this point, she was shaking from head to toe with fear, with rage. She wasn't going down without a fight and she turned back to him and punched him with every ounce of her being. She was pleased when she was met with the site of blood running from his nose. But as pleased as she was to see him bleed she quickly shivered in fear when he smiled at her so sadistically and roughly grabbed her around the throat and started choking her. He slammed her head against the wall roughly and she immediately was disoriented, she was dizzy and her vision blurred. She felt him touch her thighs and grab at her clothes. She felt him prying her legs to open and he touched her breast and groped her. She was on the floor now, and he was on top of her, she knew what was coming. Her mind raced, her arms reaching and stretching out for anything to help her. She heard her name being called in the distance she tried to call out. Her hand connected with something on the floor and she immediately grabbed it and brought it up to Warren's chest. All she saw was blood after that, she felt it splatter on her face and drip all over her clothes. She felt the man on top of her fall limp and not move. She looked to her right to see what she has used and found it was a shard of glass from the window that broke that she had plunged into Warren's chest.
She started to panic; she tried pushing him off of her. She heard screaming in the background. She heard a few spells fly by and more debris flying around. She heard footsteps running over to her and heard her name being screamed. She saw Harry and Draco run over to her, they had scrapes and cuts all over their faces and body but they seemed unfazed by them. Harry and Draco quickly grabbed Warren off of her and she scrambled back into a ball against the wall and hugged her knees to her chest. Tears streaming down her face, but no sound. Her eyes were wide with shock and there was nothing readable in them. Hermione and Ron reached the scene and Hermione let out a shocking gasp.
Draco was the first to get to Ginny; he kneeled down in front of her and looked her over, "Hey, it's ok Ginny, look at me its ok now." Her body was trembling; she ran her hand over her face to wipe away and tears and ran her hand through her hair when she took notice of the blood all over her hands and clothes. She held both her hands out and was shaking. She looked up at Draco and he saw her face and hair was covered in Warren's blood. He looked down from her for a moment and then to Harry, who seemed to be a bit in shock himself at the site. Draco quickly took off his robe and started wiping the blood from Ginny's face and hands. Harry quickly regained himself and knelt down beside her and helped Draco try and wipe off as much blood as they could.
"Granger, get over here" Draco demanded
She ran over and put her arms around Ginny, "I'll help her clean up" Hermione said through her own tears sliding down her face, "Will you help Ron to the hospital wing? I'll bring Ginny there after" she said trying to keep herself from breaking down.
Harry and Draco nodded as Hermione helped Ginny up from the floor and lead her back to Gryffindor tower.
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Draco and Harry sat with Ron in the hospital wing waiting for Hermione and Ginny to get there. They were also waiting for McGonagall to come back. When the Headmistress was made aware of the scene she immediately sprung into action and took care of one of the Death Eaters that Harry and Draco were having trouble getting past to get to Ginny. Harry and Draco told the Headmistress about everything that happened with Warren and then McGonagall immediately took off after to have a meeting with the Ministry and with the Order........Well whatever was left of the order. She told Harry, Ron and Draco not to leave the hospital wing until she came back to speak with them. She had the five death eaters that Warren had hiding out in his office sent off to Azkaban and Warren's body was sent off with the Ministry officials when they arrived at the scene. Harry, Ron and Draco were asked if they would answer questions and McGonagall made it clear that she would be handling all questions and to stay clear away from her students.
Hermione and Ginny walked into the hospital wing and Hermione walked Ginny over to the bed next to Ron's and then she turned to see that Madame Pomfrey already had Ron's leg bandaged and Harry and Draco's cuts and bruises taken care of. Madame Pomfrey immediately came running over to Ginny and started looking her over. She had bruises around her neck, on her face and on her upper thighs. She had a split lip and a concussion. Madame Pomfrey healed her lip and bruises and then demanded she take a Dreamless sleep potion. Ginny didn't speak at all she just took it and laid down. Nobody spoke, it was completely silent. What was there left to say? Draco was glad Warren didn't get the chance to go any further with Ginny; the thought of it just angered him even more. McGonagall came walking into the hospital wing at that moment and they all just looked down at the floor, each lost in their own thoughts.
McGonagall surveyed the group before her and she couldn't help but feel her heart sink a bit. This was bringing up so many memories from the battle a few months ago and she never thought she would be standing before a group of young adults that she watched grow up throughout the years looking so defeated. She cleared her throat before she spoke.
"Mr. Weasley your parents have been informed of the situation and will be here in the morning"
Ron gave a small nod
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy I have a full investigation in swing of how Professor Warren came to be highly recommended for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts but I think we both have a pretty good idea of how. And I am also doing the same for Professor Talca"
Harry and Draco nodded at this news.
McGonagall walked over to the bed Ginny was asleep in and stared down at the sleeping girl and she gave out a sad sigh. "I'm glad you're all alright, heaven knows we have had far more than enough bloodshed these past few months and we have lost so many........" she trailed off and sat down on the chair next to Ginny's bed and patted Ginny's arm. "The truth is you lot and the order is the only kind of family I have left in this world and it looks like we may be right back in another war again." She said looking up at Draco with a sad look in her eyes.
Draco couldn't even look at anyone in the room, it was his father causing all of this, why was he even here with them? Did he think they were all going to be buddy buddy now? He didn't need anyone honestly; he quickly got up and stormed from the hospital wing.
McGonagall let out another sigh at his departure and then stood up and turned to the trio, "With Warren gone now I am hoping we can get things back to normal with the school year. Let's forget about those two weeks of detention shall we? And be patient with Miss Weasley when she wakes up, she just went through a horrific ordeal." McGonagall walked out of the hospital wing with what seemed like tears in her eyes.
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Draco threw open his dorm door and slammed it shut, he paced for a good few minutes just thinking. He was full of rage, so many emotions, he was furious with his father and the things he was doing to innocent people and what he did to him. Then Draco thought about how he hated himself more for what he had become. A nobody, worthless, a coward, nothing more than a pawn waiting to be moved into position and when he couldn't do that the right way then what was left for him? He threw whatever he could find across the room, he pounded his fists on the wall until there was a hole. He screamed in anger, in self defeat, in frustration. He didn't deserve any sort of happiness he deserved death and even that probably was too good for him. He went into his side table draw and pulled out a pocket knife his father had given him and he walked into the bathroom. He looked in that damn mirror again, the one that always made him see how pathetic he truly was.
"Look at yourself. What are you doing?" he mumbled to himself holding the blade to his wrist over the bathroom sink. He was struggling to think, struggling to decide if this is the right choice. Is this the right way to handle things? Of course it wasn't but what did it matter, he wasn't important anymore, not that he ever was. He failed in everything he ever attempted; he couldn't even cut his wrists without rethinking it. "You're a fuckin coward, you're a fuckin coward, look at your pathetic self" he whispered through his rapid breaths trying to hold back the tears that he dared not to shed. He looked up into the mirror and saw his eyes glaze over and without a second thought pushed the blade against his skin and sliced it open watching the blood drip into the sink and slowly make its way down the drain. He brought the blade to his throat and went to make a quick swipe when he stopped, he couldn't do it. His hand was trembling. "Just do it, you'll be glad you did" he mumbled, "Come on". He brought the blade to his neck again and pushed it against his throat, he was shaking uncontrollably now and then he clenched his teeth and let out a frustrated scream and threw the knife across the bathroom. He dropped to his knees and rested his forehead on the cold floor, his rapid breathing slowing down, "What do I do with myself?" he whispered and laid there on the bathroom floor letting his mind take him away.